Botticelli Reimagined: London exhibition explores painter's influence

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - An exhibition dedicated to
Sandro Botticelli opens in London this week, looking at how the
15th century Italian painter influenced artists and designers
though the ages.

"Botticelli Reimagined" is the largest exhibition of
Botticelli paintings and drawings ever held in Britain,
according to London's Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum.

The display features more than 50 Botticelli works and
explores how others have reinterpreted the Florentine painter's
art, from the Pre-Raphaelites to today.

Botticelli (1445-1510) is famed today for his Venus
paintings, particularly "The Birth of Venus", in which the
blonde, nude goddess stands on a scallop shell. However his work
was initially forgotten after his death.

"Botticelli fell, sank from sight for nearly 300 years. In
the early 19th century he was rediscovered. The Pre-Raphaelites
of course fetishised him," Mark Evans, senior curator of
paintings at the V&A, said.

"In the era of abstraction, Botticelli again receded into
the shadows but, with pop art, he came out fighting and of
course he's now one of the most celebrated global phenomena in
art."

The V&A show is divided into three sections.

"Global, Modern, Contemporary" looks at the influence of
"The Birth of Venus" - which remains in Florence's Uffizi
Gallery - and features works by artists Andy Warhol and Yin Xin,
photographer David LaChapelle and outfits by Italian designer
brand Dolce & Gabbana.

"Rediscovery" explores Botticelli's influence on the
Pre-Raphaelites in the mid-19th century with works by Dante
Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris among others.

The final section, "Botticelli in his Own Time", displays
the painter's own works, including "The Mystic Nativity" and
"Pallas and the Centaur".

"Many artists have painted what I think you can call
citational art, that uses famous past images as a starting
point," Evans said.

"We see this in the first rooms of the exhibition, where
artists from far afield as Japan and Brazil use Botticelli's
imagery to tell stories very much of their own."

"Botticelli Reimagined" runs from March 5 to July 3.
(Reporting by Jane Witherspoon; Writing by Marie-Louise
Gumuchian; Editing by Andrew Heavens)